I thought I was walking on the banks of a river. I was following along behind my dear old Mother and Dad. They didn’t seem to be in any hurry, but seemed to be talking about what was real important to them. And I heard my mother say; we’ll raise our children to know what is right and what is wrong. My daddy said, "yes, that is what we must do".  We’ll teach them to work and be honest too. We will show our love for them , then they will love us too.
     Then, in my dream, I went back in time, and could remember what a hard time they had in raising their family. I remembered my mother was baptized when I was just a lad, and she attended her church regular all of the days of her life.  I remembered what a good man my daddy had been. He worked every day regardless of the weather. They neither one ever complained about their struggle during the great depression to pay for their farm and home, while raising five children. It was sometime after all of their children had married and moved away that they finally got out of debt.
     That was the real lesson that I had learned as a lad at home. I have always remembered how hard a time they had.  There is not a way I can give them credit for what they did for us kids. Words is not enough, and now it is too late.  They have crossed over that river and left me walking on the riverbank.
    Somehow, Ruby appeared there with me.  I said to her, "My Mom and Dad were good to me; but I don’t understand why they had to have such a hard time". Ruby said to me, "This is the way it was meant to be".  She said the same was true of her Mom and Dad, and according to the bible it will always be true. And then she quoted some scripture to me. “Ye shall live by the sweat of your brow, and not by bread alone.” Yes, she was a very religious person. We discussed our life and the bible together many times. We enjoyed it together.
     We were both raised very hard indeed, and when we were married it was easy for us to understand that we would probably have a hard time also.  So we didn’t expect to have it very easy. Which made it easier for us to accept the fact that we didn’t have much. But we got along raising  three children and paying for our home about as well as we had expected. We always wanted a better life for our children than we had.
     In some ways they have had it better, but Ruby and I have talked about it to each other. That we hoped and prayed that they would never know how it was, when were growing up at home. So I can see that what she said is right. “That is the way it is meant to be, it has always been that way and always will be.”  We were real proud of our three children, and tried to give them a lot of things that we did not have when we were growing up at home.
     Somewhere about there, I realized that she too had crossed that river and left me and our children here to cherish the memory of her.  We all are lost without her. But we all hold her dear to our hearts, and try to remember her for all the good things that she caused to happen in our lives.  She was the central figure in our family, we all loved her.
    Somehow I want to express to our children and their families,  “ The love that we both have for each and everyone.”
    I am lost for words to write here what I need to say, like we could both do together if she was here with us. Then I am sure we could find the right words to express it with unfailing love.